‘I think you might be the one,’ I whispered, catching sight of my bracelet as I ran my hand down her arm.
‘Yes, I think I am, too,’ Sophie replied, taking my attention away from the one thing that tied me to earth.
Chapter Six
‘What happened to you lot last night?’ I asked as we walked down the street.
‘We went on to a different club,’ Aries said. His usual swagger was still achieved, even with fake legs. I shook my head as he winked at a passing middle aged woman.
‘You’re engaged!’
He shrugged as a car horn beeped in the distance. ‘So? Natalie knows I’m a flirt. There’s nothing in it.’
‘What’s relationship life like, then?’
His eyebrows rose. He was right to be surprised. I still didn’t believe in twin flames, but I couldn’t get Sophie out of my head.
‘It’s…different.’
The lopsided grin on Aries’ face showed how understated the word different was. He was besotted. I had never seen him look so…happy.
‘That’s all? Different?’ I wasn’t going to let it drop so easily. I was intrigued by the change in him.
He checked the busy road before jogging across. His metal legs were covered by his jogging bottoms. His trainers were attached to the end of his prosthetics. No one would have guessed that he had lost his legs only a few months before.
‘What can I say? She’s amazing.’
Aries shot through the open shop door. I hadn’t been paying attention to where we were going. He told me that the girls had set up a picnic in the park. We were on food patrol. The supermarket was cool as I entered. It was a small express shop in Clapham.
‘Get the drinks,’ Aries called as he filled a basket with processed food.
Picking up my own basket, I paused and watched the woman that stood in front of the wine. She looked familiar. I was about to grab the cans of beer when she turned her head slightly and met my gaze.
‘Hi!’
The quick response was high pitched and a little forced. The pretend smile melted into a real one when I rubbed my hand over my shaved head. Sophie had asked me to stop wearing my cap. I wasn’t going to let her tell me what to do, but I had left it off.
‘You’re Cancer’s brother?’
The girl stepped forward and offered her hand. ‘I’m Kerry. I met you at the club last night.’
Taking her hand, I shook it once before letting go. I wasn’t very good at talking to women. Not since I started taking drugs anyway.
‘I’m Taurus,’ I choked out.
Being with Sophie hadn’t made me any less awkward. Kerry was a pretty girl with long blonde hair. Her blue eyes were slightly darker than—
‘Cancer told me about you a few years ago. We used to play in the local park.’
Swallowing, I looked over at the tins of lager. What had Cancer told her about me? ‘Kerry! I remember now,’ I blurted as an image of a small girl running around the park came back to me.
‘Yes. Your mother stopped me from playing with Cancer when she found out that she had sneaked out to see me. I was the older bad influence.’
She frowned as the memories obviously came back to her. I rubbed my stubbled jaw and moved from one foot to the other.
‘Yeah, our mother was a bit protective,’ I replied, finally reaching out to pluck a six pack off the shelf.
She stared at me. I couldn’t look her in the face. Making eye contact made me uneasy, which would end up being weird.
Coughing, I grabbed a different brand of beer and shoved it in my basket. ‘We’re having a picnic in the park. Cancer will be there. You should come.’
I had no idea what possessed me to ask her along. I didn’t know her. She smiled gently and glanced down at her basket. There was a ready meal and chocolate bar lying pathetically at the bottom.
‘I would like that.’
‘Taurus, what’s taking you so long?’ Aries called from the end of the aisle. ‘Kerry?’
He came towards us as I let out my breath. No matter how many times I spoke to women, or even had one like Sophie, Aries would be better at it than me.
‘Aries? How are you? It’s been a while!’
I stepped back as Aries bent to hug our new friend. If I remembered rightly, she played with most of the others. I would always hang back, getting on with my own thing. The only kids I played with were Gemini and Aquarius.
‘Let’s go, brother!’ Aries said, turning to me and frowning at my measly two six packs. ‘Are you coming, Kerry?’
He started to pile cans into my basket. My arm muscles were sore from overuse the night before. When we had got home from clubbing, I couldn’t settle, so I had done a few hundred pull ups.
‘Taurus just asked me. I’d love to come,’ Kerry replied, chatting away to Aries as they paid for their food.
I followed along, tuning the others out. The image of Sophie dancing in my bedroom the night before entered my mind. I smiled at my private show. She really was an amazing woman.
‘You’re taking your time!’
The annoyed tone broke through my reflection. I turned to see the woman I had been daydreaming about, standing with her hands on her hips. Her frown stretched into a grin when she saw my raised eyebrows.
‘We’re coming,’ Aries said, grabbing the bags and gesturing for Kerry to come with us.
‘I missed you,’ Sophie said as I put my arm over her shoulders and led her out of the shop.
The air was warm. She wore a flowery dress with a white cardigan over the top.
‘I thought you were supposed to be training Sophie, not banging her,’ Aries called as we entered the park.
I glared over my shoulder. Kerry punched him in the arm as he chuckled.
‘Just ignore him, Taurus, you can bang whoever you like.’ Kerry laughed.
Shaking my head, I did as she said, guiding Sophie towards the group waiting in the sun. Not everyone was there. Cancer lounged on the ground, her shorts pulled as high as they could go to take advantage of the warm sun. Pisces and Antony leant on one another as they made puppy dog eyes at each other. Leo was strumming his guitar as Natalie tried to sing some of his lyrics.
‘Here comes the food!’ Cancer shouted, jumping up and throwing her arms around Kerry. ‘What are you doing here?’
They giggled together as they whispered. Sophie tugged me to the ground so she could sit on my lap.
‘You two have hooked up quickly, haven’t you?’ Pisces said.
I glanced at the most sickly couple of the group. Pisces had been the first to unite with her twin flame and now she acted like she was an expert. I didn’t care about soulmates. I didn’t care about love. I was just happy that Sophie was wiggling on my lap as she tried to get comfortable.
‘Can you blame me?’ Sophie chuckled, flicking my nose.
Blinking, I tipped her off me and leant forward to grab a can out of the bag that Aries had dropped on the floor.
‘I can’t blame him,’ Leo said, plucking the strings of his guitar as he smirked at me.
Sophie winked at him. Shaking my head, I cracked open the can and downed it in one. I had worked up a sweat the night before. Scrunching the can in my hand, I let out a loud burp. My hand shook as I buried it into the bag to get another drink.
‘Slow down.’ Cancer laughed, pulling Kerry down to the grass.
Taking a joint out of my pocket, I put it between my lips.
‘You shouldn’t be smoking that here,’ Kerry said.
Everyone went silent. My siblings had given up challenging me on my smoking habits.
‘Who made you boss?’ I replied, flicking my lighter.
Sophie climbed back on my lap. She was watching the others as I took a drag on the joint and blew out the smoke.
‘No one made me boss. I’m just saying.’
The other girl was staring at me. Her eyes tried to pierce me. I looked away. She wasn’t my mother and even if she was, I wouldn’t listen to her.
‘Stop talking about me!’ I snapped.
‘They’re right, Taurus.’
Sophie fell to the ground as I shot up. Father stood behind the group, his arms crossed over his chest. The others got to their feet as quickly as I had.
‘What are you doing here?’ Pisces asked. ‘Should you be out in public?’
We had only rescued Father a few days ago. Nick would probably be searching for us by now, although why he was so interested, baffled me. I’d had to help rescue our father. It was part of being within the family. It didn’t mean I agreed with everything he said.
‘I wanted to check on you. There are a few things we need to discuss in more depth. Last time I saw you, we didn’t get a chance to talk.’
Pisces threw her arms around his shoulders. He squeezed her tight. Antony stood next to her, waiting to take her hand when she stepped back.
‘Is everything okay?’ she asked.
Father ducked his head before looking her in the eye. He glanced around. His gaze lingered on the two outsiders of the group. Sophie and Kerry.
‘Everything is fine,’ he said to allay their suspicions. ‘I have a lot to tell you, my children, but until then, I’ll leave you to your gathering.’
Aries put his arm around Father and led him away from the group. They whispered together. A part of me hated that Aries was always in charge. The rest of me remembered that I couldn’t be bothered with any of it.
‘Your father is handsome! I can see where you get your looks from,’ Sophie said, linking her arm through mine.
Leo choked on the beer he was drinking. It was hard to keep my mouth shut. I couldn’t tell her that he wasn’t our real father or that we weren’t actual siblings. When she met Aquarius, my dark skinned brother, she would guess that something wasn’t right. Had Cancer not told her anything?
‘We should play a game of football,’ Kerry said, bringing everyone’s attention back to the group.
Leo offered his hand and pulled her to her feet. ‘Yes, my lady.’ He bowed to her, pointing at the football that waited on the ground nearby.
She ran for it and managed to kick it away before Leo reached her. They moved away from the group, laughing as they fought over the ball. Aries jogged back over, trying to join in the game.
‘Come on!’ Sophie called, running to join them as the others went with her.
I used to like football. I liked my joint even more. I needed to chill out after a night of dancing. Lowering myself to the ground, I sparked up again, savouring the flavour of the weed as it went into my lungs.
‘You’re so boring!’ Sophie sang from across the park.
I didn’t know her well, but she was gorgeous. Her bum jiggled as she ran around the pitch. She was sexy and she liked a smoke. Technically, she was the perfect girl for me.
‘Just keep running. You wanted to get fit!’ I shouted back.
She scrunched up her nose and glared at me. If she was a robot, she would have been able to laser shoot me with her eyes. I could easily see her as a 3D character on the computer screen.
We would probably be ruled by robots one day. It would give us the freedom to do what we liked, instead of having to work all the time. Not that I worked. I wasn’t able to take orders from anyone. Why should I? Why should I make the rich richer? My motto was not to give a monkeys about anyone else. There was no point in caring too much. We came to the world alone. We would die alone. There was no god, no afterlife, no nothing. We just died and that was that.
I took out another lager and dragged on my joint again. My brain liked to go into overdrive. If I wasn’t careful, I could sit up for days thinking about things. As the drink warmed my body, the laid back Taurus emerged. My muscles relaxed as the dope calmed me.
Digging in my pocket for another joint, I brushed against something small sitting in the bottom of it. I was wearing the same jeans as the night before. My heart sped up in excitement as I pulled a pill out with my joint. The memory of invincibility came back to me. It had felt amazing to be able to keep going and not get out of breath.
‘Taurus, don’t be so boring!’ Natalie called.
She was probably the fittest person in the game. She was an occupational therapist and had helped Aries to get back on his feet…literally. Popping the pill into my mouth and washing it down with a swig of drink, I jumped up to join them. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long to get high. Then I could beat them.
‘What’s your job now?’ Kerry asked as I stood next to her.
The others were across the park, running after the ball. Kerry was a few years older than us. Her jeans stretched across her backside as she hopped up and down.
‘Not a lot,’ I muttered.
‘He’s doing a bit of personal training.’ Sophie made me jump as she wound her arms around my hips from behind. I didn’t even realise she was there.
‘How long have you been together?’ Kerry asked, the ball game forgotten.
Sophie giggled as I coughed. ‘Not long.’
The ball pounded into my leg, so I skipped away from the girls and started to play. My heart beat faster as the energy rushed through me. The ball moved with me. I didn’t have to do anything, it was as if it was attached to my feet.
‘I didn’t know you were good at football,’ Aries called.
He tried to tackle me. I dodged him. The breeze brushed my bare arms as I thundered around the others and went for the goal. Leo stood his ground, but I was invincible. Bringing my leg back, I kicked the ball with my superpower strength. It went flying over Leo and into our pretend goal.
‘Go, Taurus!’ Sophie cried.
The thumping of my heart grew louder. It drowned out the whoops of excitement from the others. My victory dance faltered as my head started to pound. The rushing feeling went into overdrive. Clutching my head, I stumbled to my knees. The muscles in my body started to shake. What was happening to me?
‘What’s wrong?’ someone asked me.
A hand stroked my back as I fell to the floor. The blue sky was above me. It spun. It moved all over the place. My stomach heaved, and I leant over to empty it.
‘Has he taken anything?’ I heard Aries ask.
‘He did last night, but not today as far as I know.’ Sophie’s voice was tight. She was worried about me.
I opened my mouth to speak to them. Nothing came out. Shivering overtook me as I lay helpless on the ground.
‘Call an ambulance,’ Kerry shouted.
Their voices faded as blackness came to take me away. It was about time. I had been waiting for the darkness for a while.
Chapter Seven
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. What was wrong with me?
‘You’re getting withdrawal symptoms,’ Sophie said, catching my fingers and trying to hold them still. It didn’t work.
‘I’m fine.’ I grunted, climbing out of bed.
The cool air met my naked skin as I reached into my drawer. I needed something to wake me up.
‘Do you think they might be right?’
Her voice was soft. I was trying to find the wooden box that held my stash. I stopped fumbling and turned to her. One bare leg stuck out of the cover, drawing my eye to her smooth skin.
‘Do you think they’re right?’
My siblings had bugged me ever since I had got home from hospital. The nagging did my head in. The last thing I needed was Sophie to agree with them.
She didn’t say anything as she chewed on her bottom lip. Shaking my head, I bent down to search the drawer. Where was my box?
‘They took it,’ Sophie whispered.
My muscles ceased to move. The tendons in my thighs burned from my crouched position, but I stayed exactly where I was.
‘What?’ I spat out after I took a deep breath.
‘When you were in hospital, they came in and took your box.’
Launching to my feet, I swiped at everything that
sat on top of the dressing table. Aquarius’ deodorant flew onto his bed. Combs scattered to the floor.
I picked up Gemini’s aftershave and smashed it into the wall. Sophie shouted in surprise when the glass shattered and showered to the floor. My breath huffed in and out of me as I looked for more things to destroy. Red dots misted my vision when I couldn’t find anything.
‘Taurus, stop!’ Sophie called.
I ignored her and went to the wooden door that separated me from my meddling siblings. Clenching my fingers, I laid into the door, punching the wood repeatedly. The splinters stung my hand as they sliced into my skin. I kept going.
How dare they? My brain was buzzing as the red mist took over. I couldn’t stop.
I was aware that Sophie cowered somewhere behind me.
‘No one takes my stash!’ I bellowed, pulling my arm back and pounding the wood one last time. The crack of the door vibrated through my head and brought me back to the room.
The silence was broken by the sound of my laboured breathing. Sophie whimpered in the corner. I couldn’t look at her. My arm throbbed from the beating.
‘You’re bleeding.’ Her voice was small. I glanced at my hand. She was right. Blood seeped from the grazes on my knuckles.
‘You don’t want to be involved with someone like me,’ I said through clenched teeth as I pulled on my jogging bottoms.
‘Don’t shut me out.’ Sophie got up from the bed when I reached for my sleeveless shirt.
I spun away from her when she reached out to me. Yanking the door open, I growled when I ran into Aries.
‘What the—’
‘Leave it out,’ I snapped, ducking back into the room to collect my wallet.
‘Sophie, are you okay?’
My brother’s heroism caused a problem. He was the perfect womaniser but managed to get away with it because he was charming. His protective streak was something that the rest of the family found admirable. I found it irritating. He thought he was so much better than us.
‘I’m fine,’ I heard her reply as I made an escape out of the house.
The busy street did nothing to divert my attention. I needed two things. A drink and a joint. A hit of coke would also make me feel a lot better. I only had one line of coke a week. It wasn’t too much to worry about.
Taurus: Book 3 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) Page 4